Rep. Capito: House to Give VA Tools to Hold Employees Accountable

Press Release

U.S. Representative Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) will vote yes today on legislation to make it easier to demote or fire delinquent managers at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Rep. Capito is a cosponsor of H.R. 4031, the Department of Veterans Affairs Management Accountability Act, which is sponsored by the chairman of the House Veterans Affairs' Committee, Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.). The House is expected to pass this legislation this evening.

"If employees are not meeting the duties and responsibilities of their jobs, then they should be subject to disciplinary action or even termination. Unbelievably, this isn't the case for all federal employees. This legislation strengthens the ability of the secretary of Veterans Affairs to remove Senior Executive Service employees who aren't living up to their job responsibilities. We must demand better of the Department of Veterans Affairs -- our veterans' lives depend on it," Rep. Capito.

The Senior Executive Service was established in the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 as a senior group of managers serving below presidential appointees at federal agencies. Though the members of the Senior Executive Service work in nearly every federal agency, the program is managed by the Office of Personnel Management.

This legislation would give the VA secretary greater authority to fire and remove employees from the Senior Executive Service or demote them for performance issues back to the General Schedule pay scale for federal employees. It would also require the VA secretary to notify the House and Senate Veterans' Affairs committees within 30 days of removing one of these employees.

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